


The Shame of a Lifetime

by jc_aka_why_me



Category: Mo Dao Zu Shi, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Genre: Cooking, Developing Friendships, Food Fight, Friendship/Love, Fun, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:35:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22901056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jc_aka_why_me/pseuds/jc_aka_why_me
Summary: Feel free to see this as a scene from the novel or from an AU where maybe JGY stays at the Nie Sect, gets taken in by the Lan Sect and never does what he ended up doing - if you don't want a happy moment be destroyed by knowing the canon happenings.It's also up to you if you wish to see it as a ship starter or friendship starter.This was a request from tumblr for my MDZS writing game.
Relationships: Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén & Mèng Yáo | Jīn Guāngyáo, Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén/Mèng Yáo | Jīn Guāngyáo
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	The Shame of a Lifetime

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to see this as a scene from the novel or from an AU where maybe JGY stays at the Nie Sect, gets taken in by the Lan Sect and never does what he ended up doing - if you don't want a happy moment be destroyed by knowing the canon happenings.  
> It's also up to you if you wish to see it as a ship starter or friendship starter.
> 
> This was a request from tumblr for my MDZS writing game.

It wasn't long after the Lan Sect got attacked that.. Meng Yao ran into someone he hadn't expected to meet.

Xichen looked.. torn, disheveled almost, barely recognisable with his white robes having quite the few dirt stains. He was so on the edge that he actually pushed Meng Yao up against a tree before taking a closer look at him - sooner or later able to recall that the "boy" was one of Mingjue's.. well, at the time not too trusted but on a good way "guest disciples".

After a lot of back and forth and even more apologising from mostly Xichen's side Meng Yao had somehow managed to get the other to follow him to his home. At the time still Meng Yao wasn't confident enough in his position at the Nie Sect to live with anyone else but servants.. which really came in handy as right now what Xichen needed was a place to hide.

-

Within 3 days only Meng Yao has noticed a few things. 1) Xichen is.. far too pure. 2) Even in normal robes he stands out far too much. 3) While he is the supposed perfect future husband of all the 15-30 year olds.. He doesn't know how to live. He was a nightmare when it came to doing laundry. He wasn't great at making proper deals at the market without being turned into a fool. He didn't have a true self due to the rules he had grown up with. And he also barely.. managed to cook. It wasn't like Xichen didn't know how to - he clearly had the theoretical knowledge, the problem was just that he was clumsy.. He couldn't control his strength overly well, especially the finer the work he was supposed to do was. 4) Surprisingly there is actually no tan-line where the forehead ribbon of the other usually hid his skin. Which Meng Yao got to know since Xichen wouldn't be able to wear it without standing out even more.

-

It was the first time in his life that Meng Yao struggled so hard with hiding what was going on inside him.. He really had to almost escape at times to let out his laugh, fixing his expression once his fit was over before he returned to the Jade that.. kept messing up and messing up.

Early on during the fourth day already the younger one of them began to notice a change in the others behavior. Xichen was even more careful than usually, yet his expression.. there was something in his eyes that caught Meng Yao’s attention..

However, not even that long after, as Meng Yao arrived while Xichen worked on eggs he seemed to have boiled - one of the few things he wasn’t too bad at, even though it made him feel terrible to kill a possible baby chicken -.. It was all good and fine until MengYao spoke up, totally unintentionally startling the new Lan Sect leader.. and of course, what else should’ve happened than Xichen crushing the poor egg in his hand that he clenched from the shock. The still somewhat slimy and gross texture of the egg was getting squeezed out between his fingers.. but what turned into the last nail Meng Yao needed for his coffin was that Xichen’s frustration had build up so much - even though he didn’t dare to curse - he slammed his free hand against his face.. Which was also soiled from the eggs he had previously, successfully, cut for their meal.

Meng Yao tried his best to keep his laughter in.. at first pressing his lips together, then his fist against them as the waves began to grow harder, painfully aching to be let out. When Xichen then finally pulled his hand away, revealing crumbs and fluids of the eggs stuck on his face Meng Yao cupped his mouth with his hand,..

At the end, however, he ultimately lost the fight against the laughter as Xichen looked up at him, this awkward smile playing on the edges of his lips as a few pieces of egg fell out of his face - at that point Meng Yao.. quite literally, lost it.

,,I’m sorry.. I’m so sorry..” Meng Yao said over and over again as he laughed so hard his feet soon barely were able to hold him upright. His free arm that he wasn’t hiding his face was getting wrapped around his stomach that ached from all the laughter.  
He should’ve noticed that something was off as the Jade only sat there, not saying his usual “It’s alright.” in this gentle and calm tone.. It wasn’t until MengYao actually half collapsed to the floor, still unable to calm himself, that.. Xichen did something that would further explain why this time in his life was later classified from both as “The shame of a lifetime”..

The twin Jade’s weren’t called like that without a reason, they weren’t all that different and just like Wangji who bit Wuxian due to being unable to cope with all the emotions that had build up inside of him - Xichen had his own “tick” as he, without realising he actually did so, threw the torn apart egg against the trapped in a fit of laughter MengYao.

,,Oh my goodness.. I didn’t mean to..” Xichen spoke up, they had both ended up frozen in place - one as he realised what he had done, the other as the pieces of egg hit him.  
,,What am I supposed to do with you now, Zewu-Jun?” Meng Yao said as he once again had started to laugh, the other was meanwhile too shocked from his own actions to-  
,,What?!” Xichen said in this confused, startled tone as it sank in that Meng Yao had just returned the favour of throwing the contents of the bowl Xichen had put the already cut eggs in against him. The older one had been too ashamed to notice Meng Yao had even reached out to it.

,,You can’t attack someone and expect them not to react, can you, Sect Leader Lan?” Meng Yao wasn’t quite able to hide his amusement as he tried to speak up all seriously. He knew he shouldn’t behave like that, it was the last thing he was supposed to do but.. it was an accidental slip-up from both sides.

,,One shall not play with their meal..”

,,I apologise for speaking so rudely, but the way you threw the egg at me didn’t seem like it was for entertainment, Sect Leader.” Meng Yao wasn’t sure at this point if he was trying to rub salt into the older ones wound or if he was trying to ressure him, yet for a brief moment he could’ve sworn Xichen glared at him in a warning manner.

,,Are you trying to accuse me of something?”

,,I’m afraid I don’t understand what you’re trying to imply, Sect Leader Lan.” Meng Yao feigned ignorance and innocence, somehow.. it was strangely fun to tease Lan Xichen. Someone who had and was everything he wasn’t and probably would never be.

,,Excuse me. I’m afraid I lost sight of my manners for a moment. I will go and wash myself.” Xichen said, his tone a lot more Wangji like and stiff than his usual nice and calm one, as if he was trying to hold himself together.

Meng Yao bowed as he watched the other get up, he could clearly feel that something was off about Lan Xichen. It was one of the skills he had learned due to growing up in a brothel where the moods of customers had to be generally closely looked at for several reasons.

,,Sect leader?”

,,Yes-”

The younger one had stared at the Jades back for a moment as the latter was about to leave - yet at the end, once Xichen turned, Meng Yao threw the contents of another bowl at Xichen. Meng Yao didn’t dare to be disrespectful, Xichen was the rare case that treated him well regardless of his social standing.. but exactly because of that he couldn’t just watch the other leave and keep whatever was going on to himself.

As the new wave of food hit him something snapped inside Xichen. It hadn’t been too noticeable so far, but his composure was only an act since he had fled from his own home, not knowing if anything of it existed still at this point - His expression grew cold, distanced, gaze as piercing and almost as arrogant as that of his younger brother could easily seem. More than anything, however, he looked mad, no sign of a smile playing on his lips as he grabbed the next best bowl by his side. It was flour, nothing that would hurt. Holding the bowl in his hand, Xichen walked up to Meng Yao, staring into his eyes as he.. poured the flour on his head, the white powder flying around everywhere.

Honestly, for a moment Meng Yao had been kind of scared, he wasn’t truly a coward but it had sank in that he was nothing - a nothing that just threw food at a sect leader for the second time in a row. Noticing that Xichen simply returned the favour, the smaller one of them took a step to the side and made a run for the next best thing he could possibly throw at the other again.  
It was unclear how much time they spend running around, yet at the end the kitchen was a total mess, even the hallway of the house they were sharing hadn’t been left clean. They had ended up outside somehow, even throwing raw eggs at one another.

Maybe halfway through Xichens expression had changed, it was the first time that Meng Yao heard the other laugh so wholeheartedly.. and even though he was in no position or rank to do so, he himself couldn’t refrain from laughing either.

As they finally collapsed on the floor, Xichen sitting there with one leg stretched out, the other bend with his arm resting on top, while Meng Yao sat cross legged.. they both looked like a mess. They had attacked one another with anything they got a hold of, including milk and sauce and.. it was the largest amount of food and ingredients either of them had or would ever go on to waste in their lives. While the food war was over already though, their laughter wasn’t. They kept laughing for quite a while, until it gradually grew more silent in between of their heavy breathing before MengYao then stopped as Xichen let out a last huff.

,,Thank you.”

The younger ones expression dropped at once, one of the rare times where he didn’t keep up his facade. He looked honestly surprised, almost overwhelmed - and again that mishap happened with Xichen being around, even the cause. Meng Yao couldn’t even respond, he was staring at Xichen who was looking at him with this gentle, caring, thankful gaze.. not even the disheveled hair, or the food stuck to his face, nothing could erase the Jade’s breathtaking effect.

,,Even though I am more than ashamed because of my behavior.. I have never behaved in such a way before, nor will I ever be able to talk about what has happened.. Yet I am.. truly.. thankful. I haven’t been able to calm my mind ever since I left Gusu, without knowing if I will ever be able to return.. but you made me.. relax. It might be overbearing to say so, yet I am certain that you are a person that will go on to do great things.. and one with a good heart. If one day I will get the chance, I will make sure to return all the favours you’ve done for me.”

,,That.. I.. I am really noth-”

,,A-Yao-” Xichen interrupted the other, his tone back to his usual one as he watched Meng Yao’s expression falter. ,,May I call you that way? Even if you may not accept this now, one day?” He added after a short pause, this angelic smile reappearing on his stained face.

,,I will make sure to work hard so one day you may call me this way without bringing shame over you and your sect, Sect Leader Lan!” Meng Yao replied almost in a hurry, he had taken a bit before doing so, bowing at the same time - unable to meet the others gaze.

Xichen’s smile grew a little wider as he nodded, not willing to argue even though he would’ve liked to. ,,Shall we go clean ourselves and wash our robes?”

,,I will wash the robes!”

Xichen chuckled silently, just as amused as ashamed by the fact that he was so bad at washing clothes that the one that rarely to never failed to address him properly did so.

And so they walked off to a river nearby with Xichen making sure his steps would be slower and shorter so Meng Yao could follow him easily - which the other noticed, yet didn’t say anything to.


End file.
